How to use Instagram’s latest features

Instagram has released some great new features recently. They give you the ability to add even more personality to your brand’s Instagram presence. They certainly aren’t compulsory, but read on before you write them off.

Live

Create a live video and interact with your followers, live. Go Live on Instagram and anyone who has notifications turned on for your account, will receive a push notification on their phone. Anyone else who follows you will be shown your story as live at the front of all of your stories. As the Live account you can see the people who have joined, their comments, and the hearts they give you.

As soon as the video ends, it’s gone forever, so keep that in mind when planning your live content. If you’d like to see what other people do on live right now, you can see the top active Live videos in the search tab of your Instagram app.

Boomerang

Previously its own app, Instagram have now added Boomerang to its capture options. Create a recurring mini video in a GIF style. It takes a short burst of photos that replay as a video. Add them to a regular post, or your story.

Hands Free

This setting shoots video without you having to hold the record button. Simply tap to record. Your phone should autofocus as you record, as usual. You can either record for the full period, or stop the video by tapping again. You can also choose whether to have sound on or off, like any other video you post.

Stories

Although Instagram Stories has been likened to SnapChat, there are some pretty big differences, including these new features.

Tagging

You can now tag other accounts in the copy of your Instagram story posts. This is great for tagging a brand, author, friend or blogger, you are showcasing, recommending or talking about. It’s the best way to direct your followers to another account other than a dedicated regular post. This notifies the account that you tagged them too.

You can add the tag by typing an @ and then their account, and selecting the account. Although Instagram still gives you the option to save your image or post to your profile once this tag is added, it will only work in Stories.

Swipe up link

Verified accounts can add a link that followers can swipe up to view on any post in Stories.

This is the only place other than the bio that you can link through Instagram, so get verified if you can. You’ll then be able to link to any of your new content, on any platform or your site.

Stickers

Add stickers to your pics and videos by clicking the smiley face button in the top right hand side of your screen. You can add stickers that are based on your location, including a specific area, temperature and time. Change the colour palette or style of these by tapping them once placed on your photo. You can also add funny hats and glasses, plus every emoji on your phone.

These can be added to any image, not just stories, but we wouldn’t recommend adding them to your main photos, unless of course that matches your brand.

Try out these new features now to see how you can add extra interaction and personality to your Instagram profile.

Please keep in mind Instagram has been updated since this article was posted